Shoe sewing machine



Oc't. 27, 1936. a. r. LEVEQUE SHOE SEWING MACHINE Filed May 24, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Juli...

H6. KRT

Oct. 27, 1936. B, T LEVEQUE 2,058,472

sHE SEWING MACHINE Filed May 24, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 oct. 27, 193s. T EVEQUE 2,058,472

YsHoE SEWING MACHINE Filed May 24, 1935 5 sheets-sheet :s

Oct. 27, 1936.

B. `T. LEVEQUE SHOE SEWING MACHINE Filed May 24, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Ot. 27, 1936. B. T. LEVEQUE sHoE SEWING MACHINE Filed May 24, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Oct. 27, 1936 UNITED sTATEs ATENT oEEiCE sHoE sEwrNo MACHINE Application May 24, 1935, Serial No. 23,266

13 Claims.

The present invention relates to shoe sewing machines for attaching a strip of welt to the outer marginal edge of an unlasted shoe upper while constructing a shoe of the so-called prewelt type, and is hereinafter illustrated and described as embodied in a sewing machine similar in many respects to that disclosed in U. S. patent of the present inventor No. 1,864,510, granted June 2l, 1932.

The object of the invention is to provide a shoe sewing machine arranged to attach a strip of welt to the margin of an unlasted upper in an improved and more effective manner than heretofore.

In attaching a strip of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper, as in the manufacture of pre-welt shoes, some difculty exists due to the fact that thel welt is relatively stiff and ordinarily provided in flat form while the edges of the upper are curved and disposed in different planes with relation to each other at different parts of the upper. To cause the welt to be applied to the upper so that one edge of the welt may be sewed in registry with the edge of the `upper `without wrinkling or improper feeding action, it is desirable to press the welt' against the upper close to their registering edges atall times during sewing.

The present invention, therefore, contemplates the ,provision in a shoe sewing machine having a rotating feed `roll adapted to be pressed continuously `during sewing against one surface of the work and a needle arranged to reciprocate diametrically across the end of the feed roll, of novel` and improved devices for feeding and guiding the work, which devices are particularly adapted to cause a strip of welt to be attached uniformly to the margin of a shoe upper without the exercise of unusual skill or ability.

Other features of the invention consist in the combinations, devices, and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be readily understood in connection with the machine illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which, Figure l is a View in side elevation, looking from` the right of a portion of a machine embodying the features of the present invention; Figure 2 is a View, in front elevation, on an enlarged scale of certain of the parts for `feeding and guiding of the work; Figure 3 is, a View,` on a similar scale, illustrating the work feeding and guiding devices, together with their driving mechanism, shownY mainly in, section, and indicating the manner of operating` on the work, in` connection with the stitch-forming devices; Figure 4 is a view in side elevation of the welt guide employed in the machine; Figure 5 is a plan View of the welt guide looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a view of the welt 5 guide, partly in section, takenl along the line G- of Figure 4; Figure 7 is a View of the parts surrounding the outlet of the welt guide, as `viewed along the line '1 -'l of Figure 4; Figure 8 is another View of the welt guide, partly in section; Figure 9 is a plan view on an enlarged scale, showing the general arrangement of the work support and cooperating feed dog of the machine; Figure 10 is a detail View of one part of the welt guide; Figure 11 is a view in elevation of the work support and certain parts of the machine associated therewith on a scale somewhat reduced from that shown in Figure 9; Figure 12 is a sectional view of the parts shown in Figure 9, looking along the line I2-l2; 20 and Figure 13 is a further sectional view, `taken along the 1ineI3-I3 of Figure 9, omitting the feed dog.

The machine illustrated in the drawings comprises a straight eye pointed needle 2 (see Fig. 3i) 25 and a rotating looper or loop taker 4, the latter being fixed on one end of a shaft 6 rotatable Ain the machine and cooperating with the needle to form a single thread chain stitch. Arranged in front of the loop taker 4 is a work support .8 30 mounted on the machine frame with its work supporting surface above the loopl taker. To hold the work in position on the work support, the upper surface of the workAbehind the `needle is continuously engaged by a feed roll I0 so 35 mounted that the needle passes diametrically across the end of the roll. The feed roll is formed about its circumferential .edge with a series of teeth (Fig. 2) to prevent the work from becoming easily displaced. The feed roll is mounted to rotate on a stud I2 secured in an arm member I4 pivoted at I6 to permit the feed roll to be raised from, or lowered into, engagement with the work.

During sewing, the arm I4 is held with the roll against the work and the roll is intermittently rotated by an oscillating `I-I'orton or one-way clutch I8 mounted on the arm I4 `andi acting through shaft 2| and gears 20 and 22 to `drive the feed roll I0 intermittently. At the end of the sewing operation the thread is severed below the workby a thread cutter 24 and the feed roll IIJ is raised by automatically actuated connections with the operating` parts of the machine` For` a more complete understanding of the construction and operation of the sewing devices and operating parts of the machine, reference may be had to the patent above referred to.

In sewing a strip of welt to the margin of a shoe upper, in the present machine, the upper, indicated at 25, with its lining 26 underneath, is positioned in the machine between the work support and the feed roll l0 with the main portion of the upper extending downwardly, as shown in Figure 3 at the front of the work support. To insure that the inner surface of the shoe upper will be properly held in place and fed simultaneously with the feeding movements of the feed roll, a feed dog 21 acts at the work supporting surface of the work support to engage and disengage the work and to move the work in the line of feed. The feed dog also carries at its rearward edge, an edge gage 28 in the form of a flange member connected to the feed dog by screws 38. The feed dog is formed along its upper surface with two separate work engaging portions, one of which acts on the work at each side of the seam line. Both work engaging portions of the feed dog are provided with work penetrating points arranged in rows, the forward portion of the feed dog having two rows and the rearward portion a single row to cause the upper with its lining to be held together securely as a unit during feeding movements.

The needle operates between the portions of the feed dog and the work is supported around the point of operation of the needle by a member 32 extending rearwardly and to the left from the right edge of the work support. The feed dog is bolted to an arm of a link 34 surrounding an eccentric 36 fixed to the looper shaft 6. The link' 34 extends downwardly from the shaft 6 and is slotted at its lower end, the slotted portions of which embrace a square block 38 rotatably mounted upon a pin 4t! fixed in the machine frame. The eccentric 3S passes through an opening 42 in the link which is elongated vertically to permit the link to remain stationary during a part of the rotation of the eccentric and the block 38 is so mounted that it will engage the upper end of the slotted portion of the link before the eccentric 35 reaches its` lowermost position, thus preventing the feed dog from being lowered to a'point where it will interfere with the operation of the sewing devices.

To guide a strip of welt beneath the feed roll I0 into registry with the marginal edge of the upper, a welt guide is provided with its outlet close to the stitching point. The guide comprises a bracket 44 having a flanged portion 86 through which bolts pass` into engagement with suitable openings 4l (see Fig. 3) in an extending part of the feed roll supporting arm lll. To provide better operating space at the front of the machine the guide is inclined rearwardly at its upper end and turned at such an angle that the inner edge of the welt will register with the inner edge of the shoe upper while the outer edge of the welt may extend upwardly away from the shoe upper, as shown in Figure 3. Attached to the bracket lil is a wedge shaped block 58 and beneath the block 48 is a cover plate 58, which parts are secured in place by screws 52 extending into threaded engagement with the bracket 44. The bracket 44 is grooved to accommodate a cutter blade 55 between the bracket and the block 88. In the lower surface of the block 48 there is formed another groove for guiding a strip of welt, indicated at 56, which groove is covered by the plate 50 when secured in place. At the outlet of the welt guiding groove is an anvil block 58 against which the cutter blade 54 is projected to sever the welt, and an adjustable arm 55 pivotally mounted on the bracket Lili to regulate the width of the outlet for different widths of welt. The end of the arm 55 carries a linger overlapping the front edge of the outlet which may be moved when a clamping screw 5l engaging a slot in the arm is loosened'.

'I'he angle between the opposed surfaces of the wedge shaped block 48 is such that when the cutter blade 54 is moved downwardly it engages the upper surface of the welt 58 at an acute angle and forms a bevel cut to permit a suitable joint between the abutting ends of the welt on the completely sewed shoe. The cutter blade 54 is held in raised position out of engagement with the welt by a compression spring 65 acting against the end of a passage 62 in the bracket il@ and against a pin 88 fixed to the cutter blade 54. The anvil block 58 may be adjusted suitably lengthwise of the welt by loosening a pair of screws 65 threaded into the plate 58 and passing through slots in the anvil block.

To advance the severed end of welt remaining in the welt guide, an extending part of the plate 55 supports a shaft 68 rotatably mounted in an eccentric bearing lli. The shaft carries at one end a toothed friction wheel l2 and at the other end a thumb wheel 'lll to rotate it. The welt is forced yieldingly into engagement with the friction wheel by a spring yoke-shaped member 'l5 having an opening l5 through which the welt is conducted into engagement with the friction wheel, the welt then being guided into the slot between the wedge block and cover plate 58. The yoke member is secured to the outer surface of the cover plate by the uppermost screws 52 which pass through openings 78 in the yoke. To regulate the position of the friction wheel towards or from the spring member l5, the eccentric bearing 18 may be rotated and held in adjusted position by a screw 88 passing through the upwardly extending portion of the cover plate.

To actuate the knife blade 54 there is pivotally mounted on the bracket 44 at 82 (see Fig. 6) an arm 84 carrying a rotatable roll 86 engaging the upper end of the knife blade. The arm is oscillated downwardly against the knife blade by connections to a manually operated lever 88 (see Fig. l) comprising a flexible cable 90 connected at its upper end to a small pulley 92 secured to the free end of the arm 84 and at its lower end to a lever 94 pivotally mounted on the machine frame by a screw' and a link 98 connected between the lever 94 and the lever 88. The manually operated lever is held in raised position by a spring |88 connected between the rearward end of the lever and a pin on the machine frame, the movements of the lever being limited by set screws |82 also secured in the frame.

As the machine is operated, the welt is fed by the feed roll I8 in constant engagement with the upper surface of the welt, close to the edge nearest which the seam is being formed. In this way, a continuous grip is maintained on the welt near the point of operation of the needle to guide the welt uniformly. The upper, being engaged intermittently by the feed dog 27 at both sides of the seam line, may be twisted and turned as necessary during sewing to accommodate the curvature of the edge engaging the gage 2 The nature and scope of the invention having thus been indicated and mechanism embodying the several features having been specically de-l scribed,what is claimed is:

gl. A sewing machine for attaching a length of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, work feeding means including a rotating roll, stitch forming devices including a reciprocating needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, a work support for engaging the surface of the work at the opposite side from the roll, means for guiding the margin of the upper along the work support, and a guide mounted on the machine with its outlet in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of welt beneath the roll into registry with the margin of the upper.

2. A sewing machine for attaching a length of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, a Work feeding roll continuously engaging the work, stitch forming devices including a reciprocating needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, devices for feeding and for guiding the margin of the upper along the work support, means for actuating the feeding devices and roll simultaneously to feed the Work and a guide mounted on the machine in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of welt beneath the ro-ll into `registry with the margin of the upper.

3. A sewing machine for attaching a length of Welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, a Work feeding roll, stitch forming devices including an eye-pointed needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, a Work support for engaging the surface of the work at the opposite side from the roll, a guide mounted on the machine in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of welt beneath the roll into registry with the margin of the upper, a feed dogacting at the work engaging surface of the work support, and means for rotating the roll and for simultaneously actuating the feed dog against the work on the work support and in the line of feed to feed the Work.

4. A sewing machine for attaching a length of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, a work feeding roll continuously engaging the work, stitch forming devices including an eye-pointed needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, a work support for engaging the surface of the Work at the opposite side from the roll, a guide mounted on the machine in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of Welt beneath the roll into registry with the margin of the upper, and a feed dog acting on both sides of the seam line at the surface of the work support to feed the Work.

5. A sewing machine for attaching a length of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, a work feeding roll continuousiy engaging the work, stitch forming devices including an eye-pointed needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, a work support for engaging the surface of the work at the opposite side from the roll, a guide mounted on the machine in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of welt beneath the roll into registry with the margin of the upper, a feed dog acting on both sides of the seam line at the surface of the work support, and means for rotating the roll and for actuating the feed dog against the inner surface of the upper and in the line of feed to feed the upper with the welt.

6. A sewing machine for attaching a length of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, a Work feeding roll continuously engaging the work, stitch forming devices including an eye-pointed needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, a work support for engaging the surface of the work at the opposite side from the roll, a guide mounted on the machine in advance of the stitching poini for directing a strip of welt beneath the roll into registry with the margin of the upper, a feed dog acting at Ythe surface Vof the work support to feed the work, and an edge gage on the feed dog for guiding the upper and welt as it is fed.

'7. A sewing machine for attaching a length of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, a work feeding roll continuy ously engaging the Work, stitch forming devices including an eye-pointed needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, a work support for engaging the surface of the work at the opposite side from the roll, a guide mounted on the machine in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of welt beneath the roll into registry with the margin of the upper, a feed dog having serrated portions, each acting at one side of the seam line above the surface of the work support to feed the work, and a member extending from the work support between the serrated portions of the feed dog to support the work against the thrust of the needle.

8. A sewing machine for attaching a length of -welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper havlng, in combination, a work feeding roll, stitch forming devices including an eye-pointed needle operating diametrically across the end of the roll, a work support for engaging the surface of the work at the opposite side from the roll, a roll supporting arm movable on the machine to cause the roll to grip or release the work and a guide carried by the arm with its outlet arranged in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of welt beneath the roll into registry with the upper.

Q. A machine for attaching a length of welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, stitch forming and work guiding devices for connecting the margin of the upper to the registering edge of a strip of welt with the welt uppermost, work feeding means including a rotating roll, a roll supporting arm movable on the machine to cause the roll to grip or release the work, a guide carried by the arm with its outlet arranged in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of welt beneath the roll and a knife blade slidably mounted in the guide for reoiprocation in a line forming an acute angle with the direction of welt movement to sever the Welt at the outlet of the guide with a bevel cut.

10. A sewing machine for attaching a length of Welt to a shoe having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices, a guide mounted on the machine with its outlet in advance of the stitching point to direct a strip of Welt toI the stitching point, a knife blade slidable across the path of the Welt in the guide, and a manually rotatable friction Wheel engaging the welt to advance the end of welt remaining in the guide t the stitching point after the blade is operated.

11. A sewing machine for attaching a length of Welt to a shoe having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices, a guide mounted on the machine with its outlet in advance of the stitching point to direct a strip of welt to the stitching point, a knife blade slidable across the path of the Welt in the guide. a ICUD wheel engaging the welt to advance the end of Welt remaining in the guide to the stitching point after the knife blade is operated, and yielding means on the guide for compressing the Welt against the friction Wheel.

l2. A sewing machine for attaching a length of Welt to the margin of an unlasted shoe upper having, in combination, a Work support, stitch forming devices including a reciprocating eyepointed needle operating from above the Work on the Work support, means for feeding and guiding the margin of the upper to cause a seam to be formed close to the upper edge, a guide mounted on the machine with its outlet in advance of the stitching point for directing a strip of Welt with its forward edge extending upwardly and its rearward edge in such a position that the seam will be formed close to the rearward edge of the welt in the machine, and a rotatable roll engaging the Welt behind the needle for imparting a feeding movement to the Welt.

13. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination, a work feeding roll, a straight eye-pointed needle operating diametrically across the roll from above the Work, a Work support for engaging the surface of the work at the opposite side from the roll, a rotary looper beneath the Work engaging surface of the Work support, a shaft on which the looper is mounted, a feed dog acting at said surface of the work support to engage the Work, and connections for actuating the feed dog from the looper shaft.

BERNARD T. LEVEQUE. 

